Laura Clark

Laura Clark

 

Laura Clark is a writer and editor based in Pittsburgh. She's a blogger with Smart News and a senior editor at Pitt magazine.

This Might Be Why Handshaking Evolved

A new study shows that shaking hands is a covert way for us to unconsciously sniff out each other’s chemical signals

A Paralyzed Woman Operated a Flight Simulator Using Only Her Thoughts

Electrodes implanted in the brain are shown to enable those with quadriplegia to achieve amazing feats

Louisville, Kentucky.

Officials Figure Out What Was Making Louisville Stink

A musty smell permeating the city can be blamed on a naturally-occurring chemical largely responsible for the smell of dirt

A herd of domesticated beefalo in Montana. After interbreeding, free-ranging beefalos currently causing problems in the Grand Canyon appear both physically and genetically close to native bison.

A Beefalo Invasion Is Causing Trouble in the Grand Canyon

Hundreds of the hybrid animals are drying up water resources and messing with the ecosystem, eliciting calls for culling

A general view shows damaged buildings in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus in Syria on February 24, 2015.

Are Climate Change And the Conflict in Syria Connected?

A new study shows a link between the nation’s recent unrest and a major drought spurred on by global warming

A view of the dense Honduran rain forest.

Amazing Ruins of a Long Lost City Discovered in Honduras

A scientific expedition into the depths of the Honduran rain forest discovered a lost city

Grave Robbers Once Held Charlie Chaplin’s Body For Ransom

Months after his death, thieves stole the actor’s body in hopes of a $600,000 payout; it didn’t turn out as they had hoped

A nine-banded armadillo.

How Armadillos Can Spread Leprosy

These tank-like creatures are the only animals besides us known to carry leprosy

Spanish cruise ship 'Gemini' enters Havana Harbor. Americans are now legally able to book a cruise to Havana through a Canadian cruise line.

It's Now Legal to Book a Cruise to Cuba

A Canadian cruise line is allowing Americans to legally book a trip around Cuba

On March 3, 1939, Harvard freshman Lothrop Withington, Jr., swallows a, live, squirming goldfish to win a ten dollar bet. He reportedly practiced the feat for days before by swallowing baby goldfish and tadpoles.

The Great Goldfish Swallowing Craze of 1939 Never Really Ended

A Harvard undergrad’s $10 bet set off a sensation among college students that still echoes on the Internet today

Sharks Have Scary-Good Memories

New research on one species reveals an astounding ability to learn complex tricks and remember them for at least a year

How One Doctor Proposes to Conduct the First Human Head Transplant

An Italian neuroscientists says that the surgery could be ready in as few as two years, but the scientific community remains very skeptical

This image of a Martian sunset was captured in 2005.

Watch the Sunset from Mars

Opportunity rover helps capture a hauntingly blue view of nightfall on the Red Planet

Tiny Bits of Plastic May Be Clogging Up Corals

Researchers find that microplastic pollution has become a new threat to the health of ocean reefs

Hiram Rhodes Revels

The First African American Senator Was Sworn in 145 Years Ago Today

Hiram R. Revels made history when, amid the tensions of Reconstruction, he became a senator from Mississippi

Meltwater from the Brady Glacier (shown in the foreground) is seen in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The water in the foreground in the southwest (bottom left) corner of the image is the Gulf of Alaska.

Alaska’s Freshwater Is Draining Into the Sea at an Astounding Rate

Satellite data shows that snow and glacial melt are partially to blame for an annual freshwater output 1.5 times that of Mississippi River

The tropical fire ant is the first known ant to travel the world by sea.

How 16th Century Trade Made Fire Ants an Early Global Invader

By inadvertently stowing away in Spanish ships, one pesky little insect quickly spread throughout much of the world

A man walks on a tight rope in the remote mountain village of Tsovkra-1.

The Russian Village Entirely Populated by Tightrope Walkers

The circus-skill tradition goes back so far in tiny Tsovkra-1 that no one knows quite how or why it started—but it may end before long

Mexico City's growth is similar in some ways to that of the 15th century Aztec capital that once stood there.

Modern Cities Grow the Same Way As Ancient Ones

Scientists find that despite time and location, the productivity of settlements grows faster than their populations

The blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet - and would have massively outsized the ocean's largest species 500 million years ago.

The World’s Sea Creatures Have Gotten Bigger

A new study reveals evolution in the ocean appears to favor larger animals

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